Irish American Jew

A detail from a shopfront on Grafton St.

I am working from a laptop and its giving me hell. The cursor jumps all over the place so 1/2 lines are popping up everywhere. Not good.

Can't load the photos either.

Another week gone without the summer.
Schools go back again in acouple of weeks and the swallows will be off on their travels again. Perhaps the Summer will come again when the kids are back.

I had an interesting crew in today, first girl going to the IFSC.
Turned out she came from Cavan, Cootehill in fact.
She worked in Japan for years and spoke of gentle and honourable people.

On coming back home she was shocked with the changes in the country.
The big houses 3 cars at the door etc.

Her own car had been parked in Sheriff St and the "kids" had tumbled it upside down on to its roof breaking all the windows. When she went to get a replacement car she got such conflicting advice on what was good or bad that she got the car repaired instead of replaced.
Last week loads of cars were broken into on Oriel St.and had goods taken from them, even though this area is an area of high Garda surveillance.

Coming back round I picked up a guy in IT who had gone back to university and done a masters,I got the feeling he is getting itchy feet and may go back to California.

Things are bad at Heuston station,you just cannot get on to the rank.

But I did manage to get on to the rank at Foster place where I picked up a lady going north side,interesting one this, she sells a domestic appliance which uses capsules,but her supplier has run into problems so she has nothing to sell, the store is not responding to her requests for urgent suppplies so she has to turn away scores of customers every day.
Problem is that those people will buy the goods on the Internet and never come back.
She had mislaid her purse and had come home early to look for it, I know the feeling only too well,I hope she found it in the house when she got in.
Funny thing is that I remember bringing her home before, its nice when that happens.

The last one was a rare one an Irish American Jew..They were over for a family Reunion, 30 came and they all had a great time.

You could have made a good TV programme with only her on it.
She had a folder with all kinds of documents and certs. I am giving copies to the Irish Jewish museum off Bloomfield Ave. she said.
One of her relations lived in Limerick in the 1920s during the time of the pogrom when Catholic clergy denounced the Jews from the pulpit.
Her relation had 2 sons and the father asked the local priest who was more broadminded to keep an eye out for the boys in case the got into trouble. It turned that the priest had been to Palestine and studied the scriptures in Hebrew,the priest obliged his neighbour by teaching the boys Hebrew, so you see unity hate and understanding were not thought the church or its people.
One story of her family was that they went to Johannesburg and years later they met a Rabbi who told tould them that he loved a girl once from Ireland but before he could approach her the family they moved to South Africa, he followed her but was unable to find her, after only a few more words they realized that it was their aunt he was talking about, how small the world becomes after all those years.
It was very hard for Jews to get into Ireland during the period of the second world war.
Eamon Develera who was our prime minister said that letting such people would "Destroy the Catholic ethos of the country"
Fine Christian thoughtst they were, sending people back to the death camps while setting off bombs in Britian with the IRA

Not many people know that it was the early Jews who brought the flax growing and linen industry to Northern Ireland.

I told her to try putting it all down on a blog,she said she would read this one so if you do put it up on the net drop us a line.

I thought I had a good day until I did the maths.
Just a few figures,

8 Jobs €64.80

Total distance 71.47 kms Paid distance 16.33 unpaid distance 55.14
That was for around 7 hours.


Thisis what it will be like to take a taxi in Dublin soon.



Have a look at Benini at the oscars